Abstract：With the increasing level of people’s life and aesthetic taste, English films get more and more favor from Chinese consumers, so that many well-known film titles appeared in Chinese film market. Films are always displayed in sound and color art forms, which also play an important role in cultural exchange and cooperation areas. What’s more, making the ascent of the international stage is still a long-term goal of Chinese filmdom. As an indispensable part of a film, film title reflects a nation's culture, having its unique information function and aesthetic function. From the perspective of Functional Equivalence Theory, this paper will discuss basic characteristics of film titles, which should have informative value, cultural value, aesthetic value and commercial value. Then suitable methods of translating film titles are mentioned, including transliteration, literal translation, free translation and adaptation. And good translated titles will heighten the apparel of films, making sure audiences can understand what the film want to express, which is not only helpful to enrich people’s life but also useful to promote international cultural exchange.

Keywords: film title, film title translation, Functional Equivalence

Contents

摘要

Abstract

Chapter 1 Introduction1

Chapter 2 Profile of Film Titles 3

  2.1 Naming Approaches of Film Titles.3

  2.2 Different Kinds of Titles for Different Categories of Films .3 

  2.3 Functions of Film Titles.4   

Chapter 3 Present Situation of Film Title Translation7

  3.1 Present Situation of American Film Title Translation 7

    3.1.1 Traditional Principles of English-Chinese Film Title Translation.8

    3.1.2 Mistranslation.8

    3.1.3 Different Renderings for One and the Same Film8

  3.2 Present Situation of Chinese Film Title Translation.9

    3.2.1 Transliteration.9

    3.2.2 Adding elements 9

    3.2.3 Adoption of a new title9

Chapter 4 Exploring Film Title Translation: From Theory to Practice 11

  4.1 One Main Idea: Functional Equivalence.11

  4.2 Four Basic Points11

    4.2.1 Informative Value 11

    4.2.2 Cultural Value11

    4.2.3 Aesthetic Value.12

    4.2.4 Commercial Value .12

  4.3 Probing into Film Title Translation Methods and Techniques 12

    4.3.1 Transliteration.12

    4.3.2 Literal Translation.12

    4.3.3 Free Translation12

    4.3.4 Adaptation.13

Chapter 5 Conclusion .15

References16

Acknowledgements17